16:07:10 - EPA_KK_MUC_Bayer_Web_2012

6 Sie vermitteln sehr markante individuelle Ansätze, die das Profil der anderen hier gezeigten Positionen schär­ fen. Neugier gegenüber dem Kommenden und noch nicht Etablierten prägt insgesamt die künstlerischen Positionen, die hier vorgestellt werden. Diese Offen­ heit bezieht das Sammlungskonzept aus dem täglichen Geschäft des EPA, das von Erfindungen lebt. Offen­ heit gegenüber dem Neuen, der Wille zu Risikobereit­ schaft und die Beharrlichkeit bei Forschungsinvestitio­ nen sind die Faktoren, die sich in der Zahl der Patentan­ meldungen niederschlagen.Das EPA,dessen Mission es ist, Innovation,Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und Wirtschafts­ wachstum in Europa mittels qualifizierter Patenter­ teilung zu fördern, sammelt Kunst, und zwar aktuelle, weil sie gerade charakteristische Voraussetzungen von Innovation in sich birgt und auf vielfältige Weise zum Ausdruck bringt. Immer wieder spannend bleibt dabei, wie sich Kunst am Arbeitsplatz im Einzelfall be­ hauptet. Die vorliegende Broschüre möchte exempla­ risch anhand von 21 künstlerischen Positionen einla­ den, aktuelle Kunst aus der Sammlung des EPA im Rahmen eines Parcours zu entdecken und verstehen zu lernen. Kristine Schönert Contemporary Art at the European Patent Office, Munich, BayerstraSSe 115 The motivation for re-hanging the EPO’s art collec­ tion in the striking urban setting of Bayerstraße 115 came from the desire in 2010 to create new and exciting combinations of recently acquired and older artworks and thereby demonstrate the capacity of the social concept of art at the workplace to develop. The importance of the relationship between contem­ porary art and the workplace in all parts of a build­ ing, not just prestigious ones such as the central foyer, the cafeteria or stairwells, is reflected in the new cu­ ratorial concept of addressing the special architectural features of the Bayerstraße building and using it as the starting point for the re-hang. The building’s 23 small foyers, originally designed as social meeting points for staff around the four stairwells, and the central foyer provided interesting spaces, particularly for the presentation of sculptures both from the EPO collection and specially acquired pieces.The sculptures and objects engage in dialogue along the central lines of perspective, and create a communicative re­la­ tionship that extends into the corridors beyond. Even at a distance, the building, located on the former premises of a furniture retailer in Munich’s Westend district, is a striking landmark with its welcoming loggia and trapezoidal terraced entrance supported by six slim, three-storey-high concrete columns. The ar­ chitectural heart of the building, the five-storey glazed atrium, is connected to Bayerstraße via a flight of stairs. A footbridge spanning Bayerstraße creates a pedestrian link between Westendstraße and Hacker­ brücke via the loggia. It was the EPO’s wish to hold public art competitions way back in the planning phase so that complex art installations could be realised as an integral part of the new building.With site-spe­ cific submissions from Steven Rand (loggia),Yvonne Lee Schultz (large foyer), Susanne Pittroff, Marie-Thé­ rèse Vacossin (stairwells), Beat Zoderer, Andrej Barov (cafeteria) and Chihiro Shimotani (atrium), commis­ sions to design prominent and busy parts of the office building went to artists from wildly different gene­ rations, representing a diverse range of concepts. The focus of the 2010 re-hang is on a one-to-one dia­ logue between works of art in each of the 23 small foyers. And so it is that pieces by Jonathan Monk and > D > E